Hidroaysen Part II: The videos and pics of the aftermath of the Hidroaysen decision a.k.a what made reading part one worthwhile

Hilarious, real hilarious. Can we get serious for a moment?

No matter where you stand on an issue like this, there's one thing that everyone can admit, nothing like a Friday night protest and a little tear gas to clear the system, wake you up, and start the night off right. Unless you are pregnant.

(In all the videos in this post keep an eye out for random activist stray dogs taking part in the protests. They know what's up.)

This video is probably the most complete one I found, its a little bit long but it does a good job of showing the progression of the protest and compressing about 3 hours into 12 minutes. 30,000 people showed up at Plaza Italia, one of the principal plazas/meeting places in Santiago and the plan was to go from there to the Presidential Palace, La Moneda. What's great about Santiago is that there is one big main road that runs east to west through the city and goes past all the important places. So the obvious plan was to take that street all the way to La Moneda, but about a quarter of the way there the police had formed a blockade so that the march couldn't get through.

(from the backside of the blockade)

From that point it's only a matter of time before things turn ugly. It only takes one rock or bottle thrown for what was a peaceful protest into chaos. The rock brings out the water cannons which don't look too bad. However, what you don't realize is that the water is just awful, dirty smelly and is laced with tear gas. From there comes the tear gas. In the above picture you'll see two vehicles. The big one has the two water cannons mounted on top and the smaller one, that is more like a jeep, has special chutes on the side that launch tear gas. Together, they make a pretty effective pair. It's like an NFL running back tandem. Knock them off balance with your downhill big bruiser running back and then hit them with the quick hitting lightning back and before you know it you are on your ass coughing up a lung and crying.

Please note: The extension on the kick of the tear gas canister above. Unreal. and in those skinny jeans.  You have to kick the tear gas canisters because they come out hot. I'm pretty sure if you tried to pick it up to throw it back you'd be fucked.

From that point, the goal is still to reach La Moneda and everyone still realizes that is where things are headed but it is in a much more fragmented form. You've still got tear gas being tossed about like it ain't no thing and there is a little bit of a running of the bulls effect where all of a sudden everyone in the street comes charging down it as the various police vehicles try to disrupt the efforts of the protest.

After that it turns into a long round-about walk to La Moneda which was probably one of the coolest parts. Up until this point, even with the police using the water and gas and one or two bottles had been thrown it remained a peaceful protest. For the most part, people realize that they have to go with a little MLK action, we shall overcome type deal and stay non-violent to get the point across. Things cool down for a bit. The police stop using gas and water because they accomplished their initial goal of unblocking the main streets. Now you are being funneled down smaller streets to arrive at La Moneda and the police actually are positioned at all the cross streets that could take you back up to the main drag.

What's awesome is in these moments the Chilean culture really comes to shine and it doesn't seem to be just a bunch of hippies out on a Friday night. We happened to be next to a group of dancers from the north of Chile. The north of Chile is pretty much all desert (driesest desert in the world) and there is a large indigenous population there. What's really cool is that people from the north are very spiritual in the sense that they have a strong connection with the land/earth/nature. For them, mother earth is what is most sacred, so that is why they come out to support their "brothers" in patagonia. Amidst the violence, the gas, and all the police dressed up like robocop, there is this beautiful display of culture.

Final Stage: La Moneda

The gathering at La Moneda also was peaceful, but after a while the gas and water was back out. I think from the perspective of the Carabineros, enough is enough. You've had your moment and made your point, it's getting late, we want to get out of here, people stuck in traffic want to get home, so this is where it ends. Having said that the pictures and videos that come out of it do not portray the carabineros in the best light. 

Most badass picture of all time? Can we safely say that Pat would love this picture?

(Also note how well preened the grass is in front of La Moneda. The Santiago public works department is unreal. I would hire them to do Fenway any day and twice for a double header.)

In Latin America, one of the core issues that always arises, no matter what the cause, is the issue of class. Rich vs. poor, government vs. the people and it reared its head here again. Outside of the initial protest against Hidroaysen some of the underlying themes that emerged were unnecessary use of force and that the people don't actually have a voice and that this project is another way for the rich to get richer and for the masses to stay the same.

"Shit, we've got another protester with the flag of Texas."

A few comments (Imagine me sitting by a fire in a robe with pipe in my mouth and a small dog, the type of dog you would like to kick, perhaps a shitzu, in my lap):

- Police:
To me, the police did a hell of a good job given their orders and the main goal of ending the protest. This isn't their first rodeo. As bad as the water and gas look it's only temporary. However, in retrospect, its one of those things that would probably have been best left to burn itself out. Let everyone do their thing and then go home. Instead, you had 30,000 people for this protest and then for the next one a week later 40,000. Clashes with police are inevitable in Chile. There is still a very strong sour taste because of the dictatorship and the brutality of that period. Because of that even now people hate the police. It can be truly amazing to hear someone talk about the police and just how awful they think they are and that they remain a tool of the elite.

Class:

- Like I began to mention above, a lot of the time down here it always comes down to class. Who is going to profit off of this? In this case a lot of Chileans feel that someone, whether it be President Pinera, a family member, or an associate is going to be lining their pockets with the money from Hidroaysen. Same old same old politics anywhere you are in the world. Here in Boston we have Sal DiMasi, who is on trial for benefiting from contracts that he awarded to an associate while he was the Massachusetts Speaker of the House.

Even the Chilean Espicopal Coference felt the need to put its two-sense in: "a decision based only in economics is ethically unacceptable and deplorable because it is goes against the general will of the people of Chile." 

Capitalism, capitalism, capitalism . . . In Chile for most people it isn't so clear cut and socialism is alive and well. For many capitalism is still looked at as the anti-christ and is not the answer for Chile.

Democracy:

- A feeling like Chileans weren't consulted in the process, that there was no democratic process in the Hidroaysen decision. I myself had never heard of Hidroaysen until the day Hidroaysen was passed and sadly I doubt the majority of the 30,000 protesters who took to the streets in Santiago and the 13,000 others in Valparaiso, and multitudes more across the country knew what Hidroaysen was before that either. I think this can be looked at a couple of different ways: 1) like I mentioned above, lack of democractic process due to behind closed doors deals 2) I could be completely wrong but to me it feels more like ignorance. This was an issue that was out of sight out of mind and not until something actually got passed by the elected officials of Chile did people pick their heads up and smell the coffee and get up in arms. from there, there was a large bandwagon effect. All of a sudden, everyone hears about this and it is a do or die cause. "What? They are going to put dams in Patagonia? Never! I love Patagonia!" It's okay to get passionate about the issue, but get yourself informed. Just don't go to the protest cause it's a Friday night and it is an opportunity to drink in the streets and get your ass tear gassed so you can write a blog about it like me.

____

It's too bad is that there will always be the anarchists, the kids who just come out looking for trouble and at the end of the day their actions can cloud the other aspects of the protest. The moments after the protest, getting back to a friend's apartment were the craziest because at that point the police are literally hunting down the individual small groups that are out to do nothing else but destroy. The police helicopters come out with the spotlights to identify where the different groups are and it become mayhem. Gridlock everywhere, the anarchists light whatever they can on fire, tear down sign posts, etc. and that is where it turns unfortunate and sketchy because tear gas just starts flying everywhere and you have old people just going to the store, people stuck in the traffic coming back from work on buses and nobody can breathe because the air is so thick with gas. At one point a couple kids dragged a dumpster into the middle of a busy intersection and lit it on fire.

But in the end you are left with some pretty powerful images and it doesn't reflect too great on the government and its response. The truly passionate people out there are the peaceful ones and through them come the most powerful images. It wasn't just college kids out there but families as well and using force to shut them up does not look too good.

If you are still reading this that is impressive. Below I put together a collection of some of the best videos from youtube of the protest, I embedded the first couple and the rest are links.

A pretty interesting struggle between a group of people and carabineros:

More footage of people getting doused at La Moneda. There is a pretty awesome casual tear gas bomb launch from a shotgun-like launcher from a Carabinero.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j34Wm4p6OGU
This one is probably the most awful. A group of regular carabineros (without riot gear) get cornered and are pretty brutally attacked. One gets sent to the hospital after getting hit over the head with a skateboard (30 second mark).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1nTApMM28w&feature=related
Some pretty unclear sketchy footage of a Carabinero whaling on someone. Can't really see what exactly he is hitting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVRRrrZ66-o&feature=related
news report from TVN, not bad, has footage from Santiago and other cities in Chile.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URGeH8qZPdI&feature=related
Up close footage of clash between Caribineros and protesters.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vWoImUsVy8
Various protesters being detained by Caribineros, in slow motion with classical music. Basically makes it more dramtic than it really is.

Valpo protest 21 de mayo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zS5EutB_sD4

Valpo woman's speech. Powerful stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_UAQfOP6wc

PS. If I took a more active role in these protests as a rabble rouser, do you know how much damage I would do? The thing about the protests down here is that everyone has shit arms. When you only have soccer to play, nobody can throw. Everyone is picking up rocks and bottles and I admire their resolve and efforts to disrupt the police, but lets be real, almost any little girl from the US who had an older brother could throw with more force and accuracy.

What do you even think you are going to accomplish with this throw? Do you not see it is a heavily armoured tank and you are throwing at the backside where there is nothing? Gotta disable the water cannons. Aim small, miss small. Though I will say, good looking follow through on his part. Prof Pic that shit, weon.

Double P.S. do you see much difference between the protest and a Chilean soccer game?